Avery's integrity recognised

The departure of Dunedin City Council manager Tony Avery
in the wake of the alleged $1.5 million Citifleet fraud will be
''keenly felt'', Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says.

Mr Cull acknowledged Mr Avery's 14 years of service to the
council in a media statement issued late yesterday.

His comments came after Mr Avery on Thursday announced his
resignation, saying the ''buck stops with me'' over the
alleged fraud.

His decision to resign, despite a Deloitte investigation
finding he had no knowledge of the alleged fraud, showed he
was an ''honourable'' public servant, council chief executive
Sue Bidrose said at the time.

Mr Cull said yesterday he also wanted to express his
''personal acknowledgement'' of Mr Avery's decision and his
service to the city.

''He [Mr Avery] is someone I have always found to act with
integrity and his decision to resign in this way and say that
the buck stops with him is just another example of that.

''Tony's experience and wide range of skills means he will be
very difficult to replace, but it shows the integrity of the
man that he is willing to stay on while we recruit for his
replacement.''

Mr Cull also expressed his ''complete support'' for the work
of Dr Bidrose in addressing ''organisational issues'' within
the council.

''We tasked Sue and past CEO Paul Orders with reviewing DCC
practices with a view to identifying and fixing any issues
that arose to ensure our accountability to ratepayers.